Sway
by LinaOso
Summary: A modern AU in which Henry is a rock star and Catherine is his manager and wife. Chapter One: After a successful concert, what the night holds for Catherine and Henry.
1. Thank You and Goodnight

Disclaimer: *singing* I DO NOT OWN REIGN, LA LA LA LAAAAA

AN: SO. Here's the modern AU I was on about. Thanks to my imagination, the premise of this came to me at the Beyonce and Jay-Z concert I saw last night. Yes, I think of Catherine and Henry even when I'm out at concerts. That's my dedication to this pairing…or maybe just evidence for my madness? Eh, oh well. Enjoy the read!

The crowd was cheering and the noise was deafening. Camera flashes were going off at an alarming rate, but that was to be expected. It was the final song of the night and the guitarist was shredding it up on stage. His fingers flying across the fingerboard and his pick dancing along the strings, to most everyone, he looked like a rock god. Done up in boots and leather pants with his chest bare and his muscles flexing as he played his guitar, the crowd was roaring for more. With a final strum of his guitar, he gave a kiss to his pick and threw it out into the audience. Knowing this was his way of showing his farewell, the fans at the front of the stage dived for the guitar pick, scrambling to be the one to catch it. Henry threw a smile and a wink at the lucky fan who caught his pick before taking his last bow.

"You've been an amazing crowd! We're The Valois Kings, thank you and good night!"

Slipping off his guitar and throwing a hand up in thanks to the audience, the lead singer and guitarist for the hottest rock band around strode confidently off the stage into the wings with the rest of his band at his back. Accepting the water bottle he was being handed from his manager, he swooped down and gave her a kiss. His chest was heaving from the adrenaline of a perfect concert and his nerves were still on edge from the energy of the crowd. Catherine caught the unexpected passionate kiss from her husband as the guys made kissing noises around them. Breaking from the kiss, Henry turned around and gave Max, the drummer, a playful shove.

"Hey, shut up will you? Can't a man give his woman a kiss?"

"Ya, sure, but _man_! You've got a dressing room, use it!" Max replied teasingly.

Henry opened his mouth to speak, but his wife put a calming hand on his chest before he could start. "Don't mind them, Henry." Catherine turned to the rest of the band. "Don't forget the meet and greet down stairs in Conference Room Two. You got that? Conference Room _Two_."

Max nodded as he stuffed his drumsticks into his back pocket. "Alright, alright, we've got it, Cat."

"We'll be there." Chimed in the second guitarist, Jack.

She snapped her fingers as she remembered, "Oh, I also had some food and drinks brought to your dressing rooms—yes, Kyle, I asked for gluten free stuff for you. Did you really think I'd forget?"

The bassist grinned at her. "You're the best. Thanks, Catherine." She shrugged.

"No problem. Now go on, all of you! You only have half an hour before—what was it?" She asked, testing them.

"CONFERENCE ROOM TWO!" They chorused, leaving their singer and their manager alone.

Henry came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing up and down the slope of her neck. "Hmm, thirty minutes to do unmentionable things to you…"

"Henry, we don't have time for all that." She replied practically, turning away from his kisses.

"You might not, but I do." Henry took up her small hands in his. "Come on, Kitty Cat, let's have some fun!"

She leaned in to lay her head on his chest. "We have to get you fed and ready for the meet and greet. You know most of them are coming out for you."

"But, Cat…" He whined, nuzzling her hair.

She gave him a quick kiss and a smile as she cupped his cheek. "Henry, you wouldn't want to disappoint the fans, would you?"

"I guess not…" He replied with a sigh.

She nodded before pointing out, "And then there's the after party at Jack's place, too."

"Oh, ya…" He placed his chin on the crown of her head.

She laughed at his antics. "See? These are the reasons why you need to keep your strength up." Catherine gave him a little push in the direction of his dressing room. "Thirty minutes then down to…?"

"Conference Room Two." He gave her a salute. "Got it, Miss Manager."

"And what's your name?"

The girl in front of him was shaking like a leaf. "Sarah—with an H."

Henry signed off on her concert shirt and handed it back to her. "Well, here you go, Sarah-with-an-H. Thank you for coming out tonight."

"Mr. Valois, I just wanted to say that I love you and your music and your band and I just—_I love you_!" Sarah called as she was pushed gently away from the table by security.

"Love you back, sweetness. Have a nice night!" Henry replied with a little wave.

"You too!" Catherine stepped up and the gathered crowd gave a sigh. The night was at an end.

"Alright everybody, apologies, but that's all we're going to have time for tonight, the band has another engagement they need to attend to. Thank you for coming!" Shuffling down the halls towards their waiting cars, Henry slipped his arm around his wife's waist as she typed away furiously on her iPhone and spoke into her Bluetooth. "Mina, Mr. Fluffles is in the library. It's fine. Yes. We're going to the after party. Yes. No, not right now. Yes, okay, just call me if you need something else. I'll call when we're going home, bye."

"Everything okay?"

"Mina couldn't figure out why Lizzy couldn't sleep."

"Mr. Fluffles was hiding again, was he?"

"Apparently so. I'll ask Hannah to make sure to return him to Liz's room if she finds him around the house when she's cleaning."

"Good idea, Cat." He looked down at the phone she was still messing with. "What are you doing?"

"Finalizing something." She replied with a slight grin.

He leaned down to try and get a better look at the screen. "What?"

"Just something, it's a surprise—stop looking at my phone!" Catherine clicked the power button and the screen went black.

"I can't help my curiosity!" Henry shrugged.

A smile at the corner of her mouth as she haughtily replied, "Well, _try_."

"Whatever you say, sweetness." He tried to give her a kiss to the head, but she shied away from him.

She rolled her eyes in irritation. "Don't call me that, Henry."

"Don't call you what?" His head cocked to the side.

Catherine turned her head and glared at him. "_Sweetness_." She shrugged herself away from his arm.

"Why?" What was wrong with calling her sweetness?

A sigh of annoyance. "It's the same thing you called that one fan two seconds ago."

"Aren't you my number one fan?"

"Of course I am, but…" He took her up once more around the waist.

"Nope, that's it." He gave her a kiss on the cheek as he opened up the door. "I love you, Kitty Cat."

"I love you, too, Henry."

Finally, they were outside where everyone was waiting at the cars. "There's our king! Pile in, everyone, the party's at Jack's place!"

It was reaching the first hour past midnight and Cat was looking for her husband. She'd schmoozed with all the necessary people, had a drink with Jack's girlfriend, Amber, and was now wanting to go home to her children and her bed. She hadn't seen Henry after the first hour they'd been at Jack's, he'd been called away for a little encore over by the piano while she'd been asked what the next move for the group was by some people in the business. Her feet hurt, she was tired and she wanted to get away from all this noise. Checking the time once more on her phone, she nodded to herself. They needed to get home soon, the kids would want to have Pancake Saturday tomorrow—_today_, and she needed to be rested for them. Circling back towards the kitchen, she found her husband standing at the counter pouring out a drink for some young thing by his side. Catherine raked her eyes up and down the length of the groupie. Her blonde hair had faded into caramel in the ombre fashion that girls were wearing their hair nowadays as she tossed her pretty little head at a joke Henry made. Her perfectly manicured nails in fire engine red reached out to stroke Henry's arm as she responded to him, batting her fake eyelashes and smiling a smile that Catherine did _not_ care for. She was surprised the girl's makeup didn't crack under the force of that smile. The girl leaned in to whisper something in Henry's ear, pushing her surgically perfect breasts against Henry's chest and that's what did it for Catherine.

"Husband dearest, there's where you are! I've been looking for you!" She announced loudly.

The little whore jumped back and Catherine put all her will power into not smirking.

"Hey, Cat. I was just making me and Lyla a drink, would you like one?" Henry asked, raising up a glass of something bright blue.

Giving _Lyla_ a suspicious eye, she stepped up to them. "What are you having?"

"The Twisted Throne, ya know, the one that ended up with you and me naked on the balcony that one time." Henry said with a hearty wink.

Lyla tittered behind a hand and Catherine's brow rose. "I think I'll pass, thanks."

"It sounds great to me, Mr. Valois." Lyla intoned, leaning up against the counter like it was her lover.

"Oh, c'mon now, Lyla! We're friends, call me Henry!" Henry exclaimed, clinking glasses with her.

"If that's what you would like, _Henry_." The way she rolled out Henry's name made Catherine's blood boil.

He nodded. "Indeed it would be."

That's it.

"Henry, we should get going."

"We've only just arrived, Cat." Henry huffed.

"It's actually been hours, but I guess time flies when you're having fun." Lyla could feel the stare she was being given and shivered, but wouldn't give ground.

"I'm a fun person to have around." Lyla defended.

If they could capture the ice in Catherine's tone, they wouldn't need to chill their drinks. "I'm sure you are."

"She sure is! Did you know she's actually a contortionist?! Go ahead and show Catherine some of your tricks, Lyla!" Henry was a little drunk, even more reason to get him home.

Catherine held up a hand. "I'll pass, thanks. Are you not coming home with me?" She asked, wishing him not to be stubborn tonight.

"Don't worry your wonderful self over me, Kitty Cat, I'll be home soon. I just want to get to know Lyla a little bit better." He bumped shoulders with the interloper.

She took a breath and said as calmly as she could, "Henry, I'd really like it if you came home with me right now." She should've known he'd blow up on her.

"Why are you always downing on my fun? I'm a grown man and can make my own decisions!" Henry countered, throwing his hands up in the air, his drink sloshing out of the glass.

"Henry, I'm just…"

He waved her off with a hand before wrapping an arm around Lyla's shoulders. "Just go home, Catherine. I'll be there when I get there!"

"As you say…King Henry."

Bidding Jack and Amber goodbye, Catherine shuffled out into the cold where the car was waiting. Philip held open the door as the queen of The Valois Kings slipped into the backseat of the black customized Mercedes. The driver glanced into his rearview window and frowned at the tears he saw glistening in Mrs. Valois' eyes. True, Mr. Valois was an amazing musician and father to his children when he had time, but he wasn't the ideal husband, and for that, Philip's heart went out to the lady in the back. For all the time he had been with the Medici-Valois family, he couldn't remember an instance when Mrs. Valois hadn't left an after party alone. It saddened his heart to think that this hard working woman would go to sleep without the one she loved by her side. He may just be the driver, but even he could see the love that his boss had for her husband. Philip wanted to think that Mr. Valois felt the same way about his wife, but he wasn't so sure. Still, as he drove past the skyscrapers and back to the family's apartment, he gave even more respect to Mrs. Valois for keeping a steady voice on the phone as she called up Mina to tell her she was coming home. There was so much to be said about a person if they could keep the tone of their voice stable even when they were crying. In Philip's estimation, Mrs. Valois had a lot of practice of it. Two glistening tears swept down her cheeks before she dashed them away with a graceful flick of her hand.

AN: Please don't be upset that I left her crying in the backseat of the car alone. I hoped you liked it? Was it believable? I thought so, buuuuuuut…let me know what you thought? I'm really nervous about this even though I'm excited to write it. Also, if any one was wondering, the band was playing at Shea Stadium in New York. I imagine them to be living in New York most of the time, but also having a summer house in California. I have no clue what the music business is like, I'm completely and utterly making stuff up, so please take that into account.

OH! If there's anyone who's reading this from New York, please hit me up with a PM or review on some stuff about New York? Maybe… what's a cool place to go with your kids or maybe the place where all the celebrities and socialites shop? Just some things to help form the life they live in New York, like…What's a New York THING they should be eating around town for a snack—things I want to know. I have no clue what I'm doing. I'm doing Google research, but no one knows their city like a local, so please, if you have anything to say about interesting places in New York City, please let me know!

Along with the concert inspiring this story, the outfit Megan was wearing at the San Diego Comic Con this year with the purple shirt and leather jacket and the black leather heels also played a part in this aka what she's wearing in this chapter. If those were a lot of names coming your way, let me know, and I'll make some sort of glossary in the next chapter. IN THE NEXT CHAPTER WE ALSO GET TO SEE FRANCIS AND ELIZABETH! For modernity's sake, Francis got changed to Francis Henri aka Junior (even though he's technically not, just go with it please).

Ummm I think I'm done now…

**THANK YOU FOR READING! IF YOU GOT THIS FAR, I APPLAUD YOUR EFFORTS!**


	2. Pancake Saturday

Disclaimer: Once again…I DO NOT OWN REIGN

AN: Here's some more of Sway. I just wanted to thank everyone who's favorited and followed this story. I honestly didn't think it would get as much traction as it has, so thank you for that. I don't think I thank my favoriters and followers enough, but I wanted to tell you all that I do get a really big smile on my face when I get that notification. Much love to you demedicigirl, Love-Life-are-based-on-trust, Catherine Woods and littlevoicewhispering! So, one more time, thank you! Now, please enjoy the read.

A golden head peeked into the room. "Do you think she's awake?"

"I don't know, what do you think?" He was joined by a little girl with wavy brown locks.

The boy shook his head in the negative. "I don't think so either."

"Should we wake her up?" Elizabeth asked as she leant a little bit more into the room to see if their mother was anywhere closer to waking.

Her big brother twisted his mouth up in thought. "No, we shouldn't wake her up. Mommy works a lot, we should let her sleep."

"But what about Pancake Saturday?" His little sister whined with her big brown eyes turned up to him.

"Mommy says not to cook when she or Daddy aren't in the kitchen with us…is cereal okay, Lizzy Bear?" He said, trying to be a good older brother while stile following the roles.

Her lip quivering as she pouted, "I really want pancakes!"

"I know, me too. If you can wait, maybe Mommy will wake up soon?"

"Mommy is awake, my loves." Catherine yawned and stretched before throwing off the covers and getting out of bed. "Do my prince and princess want pancakes?" Her children ran up to the bed, her little girl jumping up onto the mattress.

"Pancake Saturday! Pancake Saturday!" Lizzy sang, rolling around in the blankets and pillows.

Cat picked up her baby and gave her a smacking morning kiss. "That's what I thought, little one." She ruffled Junior's blonde curls with her free hand. "Or did you still want cereal Prince Francis?"

His blue eyes lit up as he answered her. "Pancakes!"

The house of Valois made its way down the stairs and into the kitchen of the apartment. Setting her beautiful girl down, Catherine asked Elizabeth to go get the plates and forks while she and Junior got everything out for the pancakes. As Cat reached for the mixing bowls and the pan for cooking the pancakes, she looked up to see her son rifling through the refrigerator. On the front were the many drawings that both Francis and Elizabeth had made over the years, but the drawing that took the place of honor was right in the middle. It showed the outside of their apartment building, but instead of the actual name of the building on the front, Junior had put THE CASTLE. She'd asked him why he'd done that when she knew he knew what the real name of the apartment was called. He just shrugged his little shoulders and looked up at her with his blue, blue eyes and said quite simply, "Mommy, you said that Daddy is the king and that you're his queen and I'm the prince. Well. Kings, queens and princes live in special places like castles or palaces—I learned that from school—and so I made ours into a castle. I don't think it's big enough to be called a palace." His five year old logic was clear. They lived in a castle and it seemed they would be for a very long time.

Lizzy hopped up to the counter after she'd gotten the plates and forks, sitting at one of the stools and watched her mother and brother begin to make the pancake batter. Her job was to put in the chocolate chips, but that came later when everything was almost ready to go into the pan. She hummed happily to herself as Junior passed Mommy an egg that she then cracked with a single hand and plopped into the bowl. Elizabeth clapped, very impressed, and Mommy looked up and smiled before flicking some flour up at her daughter. Lizzy giggled and nibbled on the slice of banana that Francis had passed her. While Mommy was mixing the batter, Francis was getting everything else ready. Pancake Saturday was both Junior and Lizzy's favorite day of the week because on this day they got to play with their food. Francis usually made his pancakes into faces while Lizzy Bear made hers into landscapes where her dragon—_played by a slice of specially cut banana_—and warrior—_a strawberry was usually used_—would do battle. Mommy would make trees and boulders on top of the pancakes from whip cream and put green sprinkles on top to act as leaves and maple syrup would be the rivers and lakes.

Francis passed the hollowed out half of a kiwi to his sister. Maybe it could be a boat? Lizzy made a face, her eyebrow going up as she looked dubiously at the offering. Whoops. Turning the kiwi skin inside out, he let his sister take it now that she was satisfied the little brown hairs on the outside wouldn't get into the syrup river. That would just be gross. He went back to making his sister her dragon made from bananas. He'd already gotten the body and head done, he just needed to attach the tail and spikes. Making the missing pieces into one whole piece, he put together the bits of banana with mini toothpicks and made roaring noises as he let Lizzy Bear have it. She roared back at him as she put the dragon down on her plate and pushed it around her plate with her fork. Their mother just smiled as she finished up the batter and opened up the bag of chocolate chips. Junior held the bowl as his baby sister dropped the chocolate chips in a few at a time. He just smiled and rolled his eyes as she named the chocolate chips and apologized for having to melt them, "But I'm hungry and you're yummy, so I think that it's okay."

"Princess, could you say sorry to all of them all at once? The pan is hot and I'd like to cook your pancakes now."

"Oh, okay, Mommy. Um," The little girl thought hard of what to say to the chocolate chips that she was sending to a melted death. "I'm really sorry for melting you, well, only a little bit because I'm not that sorry because you taste nice melted." With the final handful in, Elizabeth proudly exclaimed, "I'm done Mommy!"

Her son went to sit beside his sister at the counter to wait. "Wonderful! Now just give me a second." Within minutes, they all had a couple pancakes in front of them and were decorating them as they saw fit.

Francis used the whip cream bottle to spray curly fluffs of hair onto his pancake person and put in strawberries for eyes and pineapple chunks for the mouth with a slice of banana for the nose. He was now very carefully making eyebrows and what appeared to be a beard out of chocolate syrup. Elizabeth was narrating a daring battle between a warrior princess, coincidentally also named Elizabeth, and the banana dragon Francis had made for her earlier. For herself, Cat was making swirling designs of chocolate syrup and whip cream on hers. She even deigned to add rainbow sprinkles on top because why not? As she began to cut into her masterful creation, she heard a lagging step come into the kitchen. There stood her husband bleary eyed in the clothes from last night. He was rumpled and wrinkled, but seemed alright on the whole. Kissing his little girl on the head and popping one of her kiwi mountains into his mouth, he went on to kiss his son.

"Dad, look! I drew you!" Junior proudly showed his father the portrait done over in pancake. "Oh wait." Taking his fork, the boy brushed off the whip cream stuffing it in his mouth. "I messed up. You don't have hair."

Henry gave his boy a chuck on the shoulder. "Hey! It's not that I don't have hair, I choose not to have hair on my head, thank you very much!" Coming around the counter he said to his wife, "Oh, thanks for leaving that aspirin and water for me last night. You're a life saver, Cat." With that he reached over and ripped off a piece of the pancake that she'd made for herself.

"That's what wives do." She replied, irritated at his nonchalant manner and the fact that he'd stolen some of her food even before she'd taken a bite of it.

Going around behind her to give her a hug, he asked quietly in her ear, "You aren't upset over last night still, are you, Kitty Cat?"

He didn't need to lean over to see the eye roll. "Whatever gave you that idea, Henry?"

"You're quiet." He answered honestly. Yelling was fine, quiet was dangerous.

"Mhmm. So how's Lyla? Did she make it home okay?" She just had to ask.

Henry barked a laugh. "Girl couldn't hold her liquor and passed out on the kitchen floor after the second Twisted Throne. You have her beat, Cat. What did it take you, five before we decided it would be a good idea if we went to the balcony and…"

"That's enough." She cut furiously into her pancakes. "What happened after that? I didn't even hear you come in this morning." As always, she'd stayed awake as long as she could, but he hadn't been come home.

"After Jack and I moved Lyla to the den, lemme tell you that moving passed out girls is not all that it's cracked up to be, I stayed a while with the guys and had a little impromptu jam session. I think we came up with a new song, I'm not sure. I think I wrote the lyrics on a napkin, but it might have been a dream…" He checked his pockets for what might have been the lyrics to the song.

Catherine was about to snap at him for not coming home earlier, but made herself sound light in front of the children. "It sounds like you had a fun time, Henry."

"It would've been better if you were there, Catherine." He countered, holding her tighter to him as he brushed her hand away and fed her from the fork.

She chewed and swallowed. "I had to get home to the kids." A glare from over the shoulder, "Ya know, before the sun came up."

"The sun wasn't up when I got home, I…" He began in defensive of himself, but stopped when he felt her stiffen in his arms.

"Henry." Her tone was clipped and he backtracked, trying to make it better.

He nodded against her shoulder and gave the top of her ear a kiss. "Okay, okay. Look, I'm sorry for not going home with you."

"And?" Was he not going to say it?

"And for coming home really late. I'm sorry, Kitty Cat, don't be mad. Let me see you smile. C'mon, ya know my day only really begins when I see you smile." He nuzzled into the back of her ear.

She turned her head away from him, annoyed that he didn't apologize for what she was actually upset at him for. "Stop it, Henry."

"Please? Smile for me? Please? You know I love you, Catherine." His voice was low and husky and she tried not to be affected by him.

"Stop it." Henry looked up and beckoned the kids over with a sweep of his head.

They came scampering with their fingers sticky. "Children, I think the Queen is grumpy this morning. Shall we make her laugh?" The hands held together at her belly moved over to settle on her hips.

Knowing what was to come she tried to get away, but his grip was still so tight. "Henry, don't you dare, I _swear_…"

Francis and Elizabeth launched themselves at their mother, tickling her sides and feet and armpits, anywhere they could reach. Cat had to restrain herself from kicking out when Liz went down to tickle the arches of her feet. Curling her toes to keep it together, she laughed instead. Great laughs from deep inside came bursting from her smiling mouth. Wrestling against Henry's hold, she knocked the both of them into the side of the counter where Henry lost his balance and fell backward onto his behind with Catherine in his lap. Junior and Lizzy piled on top, tickling their mother until she couldn't breathe for the force of her laughter. Calling off his reinforcements, the children lay across their parents in a heap of limbs on the kitchen floor. Standing up the kids and his wife, the king of the castle dusted himself off and helped his princess back into her seat. Pancake Saturdays were never exactly the same.

To Catherine Woods: Sweetness overload? Yup. Get them cavities tended to.

To CocoRocks: I completely agree with you and I'm so happy you like this story, thank you so much for reviewing. You gave me so much confidence with your review!

To NotEvenAProperWord: Hello there! Well golly, thanks for that :) I'm so incredibly happy that you think I'm translating the characters over well. Also, the bit you told me about your sister being Kitty Cat totally inspired Junior/Francis calling Elizabeth Lizzy Bear. Hope you don't mind! By the way, love the David Tennant and Catherine Tate profile picture you have going there. Whovian?

To demedicigirl: Yay! You like it! Yay! How'd you like this one? I tried doing their banter here, what did you think? I'm nervous.

To Maya: I wasn't either, but doing AU is a lot more of a challenge than I thought it would be and it's making me change how I feel about modern AU at least. YES. I AM SO GLAD THAT YOU THINK SO. I'm so excited to try my hand at modern Catherine and Henry, you've no idea. That's exactly how I wanted him to be, so hooray! Do you think him being all fatherly is believable enough? Let me know, please!

To nainachica: "His leather pants have finally found a home." When I got the email notification for your review I was out shopping and kinda lost it laughing in the store, hahha :) She really did, she always does! God, she's so gorgeous. Haha, don't get me started on Megan Follows because I love her to the highest degree. To be honest, my first experience I had of her was Reign. Then I went back through as much of what I could of her, and I'm just blown away by her talent. She amazing and gorgeous and funny and…AH! Sorry, fangirl ranting. I've been going crazy figuring out what she'd be wearing during different parts in the story (I have a rough timeline already) and have been sketching out outfits. It's insane. Or maybe I am? Oh well.

If anyone was wondering, Cat and Henry are thirty four, Junior is eight and Lizzy is six. Mary and Bash ARE going to be in this story, but with very small roles and Bash is NOT Henry's child. Just saying. XOXO


	3. More Than You Know

Disclaimer: Once again…I DO NOT OWN REIGN

AN: *pushes snacks your way in apology for being REALLLLLLY late* Please don't be mad…but then…if you're reading this, you're probably not mad? You can still have those snacks anyway ;) Continuing from Pancake Saturday. Enjoy the read!

As per usual on Saturday afternoons, chaos reigned in the Medici-Valois household.

"Junior, did you get your work book?" Cat asked her son, helping her daughter fix her hair.

Junior was stuffing aforementioned work books into his backpack at that very moment. "Yes, Mom."

"Both of them?" His mother asked pointedly.

"Yes, Mom." He zipped up his bag and stuck his feet into his shoes.

"And your drumsticks for later?"

"Yes, Mom." Her son said with an irritated sigh.

"Francis."

"I'm sorry. I have everything." He replied in a lighter tone.

"That's my prince." Catherine smiled at her boy. "Remember to help Elizabeth gather up all her things before you leave for your drum lesson. Remember how she left her books at your French teacher's studio?"

He nodded "I'll remember."

"It was an accident, Mommy…" Elizabeth said quietly as reached up to her mother who swept her up into a hug.

"I know, baby, and Mommy isn't mad." The queen kissed her perfect princess on the nose. "You just have to learn to pick up after yourself. You'll be six soon, remember?" Lizzy Bear just nodded.

"Mommy, can we have a cake for my birthday?" Liz asked excitedly.

"Would you like a cake for your birthday?" Cat bounced her girl on her hip, amused.

Giggling madly, Elizabeth responded with a hearty, "Yes, please!"

"Then we'll have a cake. Remember your things before you go off to your piano lesson, Liz. Junior?"

"I'll help her, Mommy."

"Alright then." Catherine put Liz down and gave a kiss to her forehead. "I love you both." Junior accepted his goodbye kiss as well.

"We love you!" The children cried.

"Be careful and have fun!" Their mother called after them.

"We will!"

Philip held the door open for the little ones and gave a nod to Mrs. Valois before following the children out to drive them to their different lessons. Lizzy had been in language lessons for nearly a year and Junior had been taking his lessons since he too, was five years old. Catherine had thought it would be a good idea for the children to experience their heritage through language, all the better to connect with others. She knew that Junior preferred French over Italian, but his sister embraced both with open arms. Her little girl loved learning languages and had even told her mother that she wanted to learn more. Liz had bounced up into her mother's arms one day and had announced that she wanted to be a linguist. Catherine had laughed and asked why. Elizabeth had said, "So I can talk to everybody, Mommy!" Cat had looked over at Henry who was pouring himself a glass of juice at the time. He just shrugged, "Do you want to make the calls or shall I?" And that was that. Elizabeth hadn't put up a fuss when her parents insisted that she master fluency in French and Italian first before moving on to something new. She kept a list in her room that was ever growing of the different languages she wanted to learn.

Francis was more drawn to basketball, and had even joined the school team. Cat and Lizzy would always go to his games, Henry too, if he could make it out. It was a bit of an affair when Henry showed up to games, being the rock star that he was, but he wanted to be there as often as he could be for his children. The beaming smile on Junior's face when he sunk a shot and looked up into the bleachers to see both his parents there with his sister was definitely something Henry would brave crazed fans for. Thankfully, Kyle's apartment had a basketball court so Henry and Francis could go there to shoot some hoops together in the relative quiet. The apartment was host to many celebrities and socialites, so if a rock star and his son showed up, it wasn't nearly as big a deal. On top of basketball, Junior loved the drums. His father had been a bit bummed out that his son wouldn't be following his footsteps towards guitar, but music was just one more thing that they could bond over even though Henry wasn't always there to listen in on his son's incredible riffs.

Cat smiled. Her children were so wonderfully talented. Listening to the sounds of the faucet in the kitchen as Henry cleaned up the breakfast plates, she made her way up the stairs and to her bedroom. In the little tickle fight instigated by Henry, she'd ended up covered in food from little hands. Opening up the door and tying her hair up, Catherine de Medici Valois went to her closet to pull out some clothes. She had to run to the store for some groceries. They'd finished off the rest of the whipped cream today, so she'd need more of that. Also, some bananas would be good as they were Junior's favorite. Perhaps some of that cereal with the marshmallows in it for Liz… Cat gave a squeak as Henry's arms wrapped around her, pulling her into his chest. Her husband chuckled at her alarm and she gave him a swat to the arm, pushing him away as she reached into her closet for something to wear. His hand trailed up to her arm to intertwine his fingers with hers as she went for a folded up white V-neck. Henry plucked the shirt out of her grasp. When his irritated wife turned around, he smiled sweetly at her, holding out the shirt innocently.

She rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Henry."

"Certainly, Catherine." She gave him a hard look. "Are you really still angry?" He asked in confusion at her attitude.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" His irate wife replied.

He hummed and drew her back to him by the hand. "That beautiful pout of yours. Come here and I'll kiss it better."

"Henry, you can't fix everything with a kiss!" She snatched her hand back and went about changing her shirt.

"I can try." He responded in his most seductive voice, reaching around her to gently cup her breasts.

She slapped him away and whirled around. "Henry!"

"I'm sorry, Cat." Her husband shrugged. "I just hate seeing you so upset."

"_You're_ the one who's upset me." Tugging on her new shirt and threw the soiled shirt into the hamper.

Henry sat at the foot of their bed, tucking a leg under him. "I know and I'm sorry for that."

"Do you even know what you're apologizing for?"

"Everything that I apologized for this morning with the kids and I'm sorry for getting drunk and acting a fool, especially with Lyla. At the time she just seemed interested in my music, not everyone knows I write most of the lyrics myself, and getting attention for that is just really great, ya know?" He gave her dejected smile. "But I know now that she was just another gold digging hussy who was trying to steal me away from you and the kids."

"She was trying to jump in your pants, Henry." Catherine crossed her arms over her chest and glared down at him.

_What?_ "Was she?"

"Do you really think I don't know when some slut is trying to sleep with my husband?" Henry was surprised at the fire in her at this. "You encourage them, even when you're sober! Did you know that?!"

Eyes wide, Henry shook his head. "I didn't, I swear I didn't! Kitty Cat, I'm sorry, I don't mean to! I promise you that no woman is right for me but you! I promise you that! You're the one I married and the one I'm so desperately in love with." He reached out for her, but she stepped back from him. "You know I love you." He said with sincerity in his eyes.

"It's hard to see when you're spreading your love around so graciously, Henry. What a kind king you are to share your love with everyone. Tell me, my King, are there any mistresses I should know about? Any little princes I haven't given birth to?" She accused as her normally liquid gold eyes turned hard.

"Catherine, stop." Henry stood and took her shoulders into his hands. She lifted her chin in defiance as she continued to glare at him. "You know all those times I crawled home blind drunk? All the torrid sex we've had while I had alcohol coming out my ears? Does that tell you nothing of how much I care for you, _want_ you even when I'm too senseless for anything else?"

"It tells me that Philip is a dear friend who takes care of you and drags you home on nights like those so you won't end up having 'torrid sex' with someone else." She wrenched herself away from him, trying so hard not to throw something at him. "I haven't forgotten Julia, the one you jetted around with. The one you flew to Vegas with! _Vegas_!"

"Nothing happened!" He cried with his hands in the air.

"Henry." Her voice was low and dangerous. "You went to Las Vegas. I checked the bills. I got notifications for the hotel, food, and some attractions. You withdrew some money, which I assumed was for gambling, but not nearly as much if you went for a complete gambling spree. You know what I found when I looked closer at the bills? One room. One bed. Explain that to me, Henry." She was shaking in her fury and Henry was almost too scared to answer her.

"Catherine, nothing happened." He began slowly, not sure if she'd rain down her Medici temper on him. "When I explained that I wasn't traveling with my _wife_, that Julia was just a _friend_, and knowing who I am, the hotel gave me the second room free. It wouldn't come up because it was a _gift_, Cat."

"You know I don't believe you." Her voice was cold as ice as she warred with herself to believe him, but unsure if she should.

She heard him sigh behind her. "Nothing that I say will make you believe me, will it?"

"Nothing but the truth." She countered.

"You won't hear the truth!"

Cat whipped around to face him, advancing her petite stature with all the intimidation that he knew she possessed. "Henry, how am I supposed to believe that was the truth with all those bills?! How?!" Her voice was strained with the pain and fear of a woman thinking that the love of her life was slipping through her fingers.

He could see her heart breaking in her eyes and he felt a fool for not having explained before. "Catherine…"

"Henry. You go off on tours, go to rehearsals that sometimes have you coming in at noon the next day and your fans adore you." A bitter scoff of a laugh. "How could they not? You're talented and handsome and any woman would melt at the way you take care of Francis and Elizabeth, but Henry…" She grasped the front of his shirt and shook him once, twice. "Are you really mine? Have you always been mine?" Her voice cracked at the last before she shoved him away from her.

"Yes, Catherine, _I have_." He didn't reach for her. He had to tell her. "You may not believe that now, but I'm telling you that _is_ the truth. It was all just a misunderstanding." He closed his eyes for a moment to find the words that would heal this rift between them. "Darling, ever since you stumbled into my life, I've been yours and I will continue to be yours until the day I leave this world. Even then, I'll wait for you in Heaven. If you give me another chance, I'll show you that you are the only woman in my life." His eyes opened and Catherine could see his remorse and genuine wish for her to understand and believe him. "My wife, my queen, my love—I am yours in whatever way you want me."

She felt herself push down the demons in her mind. "You know I really don't care what you do as long as you come home to me, but don't ever make me doubt you again." Her voice was soft, but he could feel the steel in her words.

All Henry could do was nod. Catherine looked up at him with suspiciously moist looking eyes through the curtain of her titian hair. Sighing, she opened up her arms to him and Henry gratefully swept her up in a heartfelt embrace. He knew now he should have explained to her what had happened at the hotel, but since he'd been provided with a free room, he'd thought it would have been alright. He hadn't meant to cause her to doubt him. As Henry rested his cheek against the crown of her head, he closed his eyes in thanks. _Catherine, you mean more to me than you even know._

AN: …sorry for the really late update. I wrote this far back, but then I got stuck because I wrote myself in a corner. I THINK I fixed it. Anyway, MORE CUTE FLUFFY TIMES WITH THE KIDS NEXT TIME ON SWAY! THANK YOU FOR READING!

To CocoRocks: YAY! I dunno if this chapter made you smile, but…? Let me know! Thank you for reviewing!

To Catherine Woods: HAHHAHAHHA foam fingers though...

To nainachica: Did you feel the pain? Just a tad? I think I made it better, but at the same time, we all know that Catherine doesn't trust so easily. She's gonna try though. Just wait. Cutesy funtimes ahead with the whole family and some Cat and Henry moments later on also. Mercy. I'm so obsessed with Megan Follows *swoon* She's my Bae every day. I jest not.

To NotEvenaProperWord: Okay, awesome, thanks! THE DOCTOR LANDS TOMORROW! *screaming* Ahem. Henry…makes a metric shit ton of mistakes. Not that I'm making excuses for him, but he really does need to get himself together.

Um…I just wanna throw it out there to anyone who is confused, Henry DID NOT cheat on Catherine. Just saying. I feel like it might have been confusing, so…sorry.

**ALSO I HAVE A QUESTION FOR MY WONDERFUL READERS :** So, Henry is gonna do a mini-tour of the South and East Coast soon and I was just wondering if you guys had any ideas or input as to what cities he should go to? If you guys have any city nominations, just leave me a little line! Thanks!


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